Looking for inspiration?

How about a meeting of top athletes?

You should be able to find it this weekend at Copper Mountain.

Copper's hosting the Special Olympics Colorado Winter Games for the 20th consecutive year.

Competition begins at 10 a.m. Sunday with alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The Opening Ceremony is 7:15 to 8 p.m. in the Burning Stones Plaza. They'll light the Flame of Hope and there'll be a Snow Cat parade followed by fireworks. The Games continue Monday.

Copper's snow forecast is a possible 3-6 inches late Saturday and another 2-4 Sunday.

If you go, stop by Zizzo Ski Bar, where they're matching dollar for dollar for Special Olympics.

Want to help out? Click here for volunteer opportunities, or call Mandi DeWitt at (720) 359-3117.

Burton demos at Copper

(Team Burton crewmembers "work" a few feet of fresh snow in this photo from Burton.com. You should check out the site, it's fun, you'll look up an hour later wondering where the time flew.)

It's demo time. Burton Snowboards is bringing the "largest consumer demo in the snowboard world" to Copper for a long weekend - Friday to Sunday. You can check out new boards, boots and bindings and other gear, and there'll be interactives to keep you busy and entertained. Or maybe you'll be entertaining others...

Stay for the after-party at Endo's Adrenaline Café, on the edge of the Burning Stones Plaza, 4-6 p.m. Saturday. God knows there'll be entertainment there.

Copper has received more than 11 feet of snow, so it should be a great weekend to ride.

The scene at Copper

That shot was just before 2 p.m. today at Copper. Check out the web cams. Snow and sunshine = a kickin afternoon.

Copper folks hoped to open top-to-bottom with five lifts. If you went, send us a report.

A good day to play hooky

So says the boss man.

Gazette editor Jeff Thomas sends this from a few thousand feet up:

I'm playing hooky, squeezing the last ride of the season out of my Four-Pass. The view from Copper Mountain's Center Village is wintry. The trees are frosted, the sky is silvery, and a light snbow is falling. Temps are in the 30s. Perfect.
Meanwhile, they're playing baseball in Colorado Springs. Does life in Colorado get any better? As Brian Regan would say, I submit that it does not.
If you're even thinking about getting a last run this season, it sure looks like there's good skiing left!

If the boss says it, it must be true. So get out there!